Attachment for projectiles.



C. DAVIS. ATTACHMENT FOB. PROJEGTILES. ArPmoATIoN rum) Nov. 4, 19o?. nnnnwnn nu 1o, 1909.

l 942,617. Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

wmeooao iwi-1 erases enfriar-ir onirica,

^ LELi-ID BAT-TIS, 0F THE UNITED STAT-ES NAVY.

ATTACHD'IENT F035?, PROJECTILES.

essere.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

i Application filed November 4,'1907,'Sera1 No. 400,595. Renewed May 10, w09. Serial No. 495,173.

To a-ZZ autom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, CLELAND Davis, lieu- Atenantcommander U. S. N., a citizen of the United `States', residing at lVashington, inthe District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful.Improvements in Attachments for trojectiles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a Jfull, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which Ait appertains to make and use the same.

can be considerably increased by simply so.

shaping `and proportioning that portion of the projectile which lies forward ot1 the bourrelet, so that the same will otter a minimum resistance to the air during flight. That is to say, it is well known that the air is greatly compressed in front of the pron jectile during liight, and is correspondingly expanded immediately in the rear, thereof; and that if'he curved front portion ot the projectile is given the lproper contour, a minimum ot' resistance through the compressed layers of air is encountered, and the flight and accuracy of these new projectiles is increased. It is evident from these facts that. if the so `called vacuum, or expanded layers (it air, at the rear of the standard project-iles, could be done away with, the tiight and accuracy of these projectiles could be likewise increased. It, also, follows that if the resistances encountered by `he standard projectile a-t. its forward, as well is at its rear end, could be diminished, its flight and accuracy would be still further enhanced,`

lt is the object of my invention, as above stated, to produce an attachment which will lessen the resistance of the air to a standard projectile during its flight, either at the rear portion thereof, or at. thefiont portion thereof. And with this object in view my invention conists in an envelop or an equivalent attachment to the projectile which is capable of being collapsed when the shell is not in use. and ot being automatically inflated, and thereby giving the projectile the desired contour at the front or rear, when the same tired. y

teferring to the accompanying drawings `forming part o this specification z-ll`igure 1, is a side elevational view partly in section of the projectileprovided with my attachment in its inflated condition; Fig. Q, is a cross sectional view taken on the .line :Uf-9. of 1; vFig. 3, an enlarged detailed view of the materials out of which the walls of my attachment 'are made; and Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectionalview of ashell provided with my attachnient at its trontportion. l

Like numerals refer to like parts in all the views.

1, represents the body of a standard shell 2, the standardtuse thepein; 3, the cavity.

thereof; and 4, the soft steel cap usually employed in such projectiles.

5, represents an envelop or bag, which Patented Dec. i?, 1969.

may be attached to the base of the standard projectile by means of a metal ring 6, or by any other suitable means. The metal ring G, is provided with holes through which pass suitable screws 7, and serves to clamp the edges 8, of the bag lirmly between itself and the base of the projectile. this bag, asbest shown-in Fig. 3, are composed of a'chain fabric 9, on the outside, an inner lining of asbestos 10, next to the chain, and a further inner lining 1l, ot silk coated vwith asbestos Q0. At the apex of this bag is secured gas tight a suitable plug 12, provided with a check valve 13, and havinga cavity 14C, in its bottom, as shown. The said Ibag or envelop o, being made ot the layers 9,

10 and 1l, of flexible material, as above stated, is capable ot being collapsed against the base of thc projectile. as shown in dottor lines in Fig. l., and in this condition the shell is loaded into the gun.

The shape ot the bag, or envelop 5, when extended, is so designed that it will have a curvature substantially filling the greater portion of thc` so-called vacuum, which exat the base of a standard projectile du inv flight; and when the said projectile is red from the gun the gases ot explosion, under a very high pressure, will unseat the check valve 13, fill thc cavity 14, and cause the said cavity 14., is chosen ,of such a dimension as The walls of lli) will accommodate the proper quantityl of'gas when the said bag 5, 1s in its collapsed condition. In the form shown in Fig. 4, the bagil, V5 is given a different shape'when extended from that shown in Fig. 1, in order that the minimum resistance to ,the forward portion. of the shell may be secured. The said bag Y is normally collapsed aroundthe soft metal cap 4, and the end of the shell, Ias shown'in dotted lines, and is secured gas vtight to the curved forward portion of the shell." by Iany suitable means, as by the ringl, and screws i 17, illustrated. A. tube 18, 1s secured diagonally. across the cavity 3, of the shell before y Afilling the said cavityas shown, anda passage 19, 'is preferably bored through said cavity to the outside of the shell in order to complete a passage for thev gas of explosion, from the base of the shell to the envelop 1 5. The said passage 19, is made much smaller .at its extreme' end 20,' than at any other point, in rderthat the gas may not too violentlyi rugh into the envelop 15. In this form of my invention the shell is loaded into 4.the gun with the envelop l5, in its' col lapsed condition, shown in' dotted lines in Fig. 4, and when the gases of explosion are, generated, the same pass through the tube .18,and escape through Athe restricted portion 20, of the passage 19, into the said envelop 15, and expand the same to its full line position, shown in Fig. 4. '-lVhen the envelop 15, is in this position, its shape having been 3.5l properly designed, the projectile will .en-

coluit'er Aaminimum resistance from the air. The walls of the envelop 15, are likewise made of chain, asbestos and silk, as described in connection with envelop `5.

In all cases I may provide, if desired, any suitable ,small fus'esQl and' 22, located in the baseand iioseportions, respectively, of the projectile, and capable of' igniting th respective quick burning compositions 23 and 24, and thereby generating sufficient gas to keep the walls 5 and 15, of the envelops inflated; In fact, in some cases, I may depend lentirely upon these fuses to inflate the envelops, and hold them inflated. Of course,

proper escapes for the gas, not show-n,

around or through the fuses, are provided. The operation of 'my device will be readily understood from thev foregoing description, and will therefore not be repeated here.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the cxact'detailsof construction andarrangement of parts above described, 'nor to any gas generating compositions, since itis obvious that the same may be very widely varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let.

1. The combination of a projectile,'an d a hollow collapsible v cone shaped means attached to the base thereof for lessening the resistancev of the air during flight, substantially as-described.

2. The combination of a projectile, and .a cone shaped hollow, flexible, meansl attached thereto for lessening the resistance of the air during flight, substantially as describeth 3. The combination of a projectile, a-holfor lessening the resistance Vof--the air. during flight ,and means for inatingsaid collapsible'means while the shell is acquiring A its velocity comprising,achannel for conducting the gases of explosion into said'collapsible means, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a projectile, a bag attached thereto conforming to the contour of the projectile, of such a shape as to lessen the resistance of the air during flight, l'and means for causing said'bag to vbe inflated after ,the gunis lired, substantially as described.

6,' The combination of a projectile, -a colv lapsible bag attachedl thereto conforming to the contour of the projectile when extended,

and of sucha shape as tolessen.4 the resistanceof the air during flight, and means for causing said bag to be inliated by the gases.-

of' explosion after the gun is fired, substantially as`described. A

' In testimony whereof, ture, in presence of two witnesses.

' CLELAND DAVIS.

lVitnesses: l

' KATHARINE BYRNE,

H. T. MGKEEVER.

I affix my signa 

